Tonight my wife and I are going to the neighbour's house and we're going to make my pizza. I tried making some sauce, and I'm having all sorts of difficulties AS PER USUAL! I have NEVER been able to successfully make a sauce. What the heck am I doing wrong???

I bought a 28oz can of San Marzano tomatoes from the Italian grocery. I emptied the can of tomatoes, liquid and all, into a medium saucepan, broke out my potato masher implement, and ground up the tomatoes. I put in some extra virgin olive oil, then some salt, then just a bit of spices (1 tsp basil, 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp thyme). Brought it to a simmer. The whole thing was liquidy. OK, fine. But after 30 minutes of simmering with occasional stirring, the thing was still completely liquidy, except for huge gompy chunks of the sort of yellow-tinged skin of the tomatoes!!! It's a mess--nowhere close to a sauce. Smells good, but that's it.

I'm so disappointed I want to cry. Am I not grinding the tomatoes up enough? Am I supposed to dispose of parts of the tomatoes? Am I not simmering it enough? Is there something else I'm supposed to be doing??? I want to curse right now but I'm going to hold my tongue......BIG SIGH............

go to Loblaws, and go to their bulk section, buy a big can of the sauce they sell there, - it's restaurant pizza sauce, and it's very good,I used it all the time, it's $3.99 or abouts..... it's authentic sauce, if you ask me....

if you don't have amazing sauce on hand that you've made, this is a great backup.

Mark

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Pizzamaker, Rib Smoker, HomeBrewer, there's not enough time for a real job.

Mark, thanks for the idea...unfortunately I don't have any Loblaws out here. You'd be surprised how different western Canadian stores are from Eastern ones...sometimes I think the only thing we have in common is Canadian Tire

I have a backup sauce, but I really really really want to get the hang of making my own. I just seem completely incapable of doing so

When I was living in Vancouver we had a store called "Super Store" ... or "Great Canadian SuperStore" .... out here, believe it or not, Loblaws has little sections popping up called "Great Canadian SuperStore" - and geez, would you believe it's the SAME EXACT logo as the one in VAncouver ? !yeah ! .... Loblaws own The SuperStore ! ---oooh that kills me.....

out east here, so many of the HUGE grocery stores are owned by the same company !!

Anyway I think SuperStore is in Alberta, but if you don't live in either B.C. or Alberta, I think you are outta luck

I'd check in their bulk section though just for fun......

Mark

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Pizzamaker, Rib Smoker, HomeBrewer, there's not enough time for a real job.

Ah, yes, we do have Superstore out here in abundance...unfortunately I've checked both the retail AND the wholesale outlet, and neither has any outstanding sauce. They do have some good backup sauce (by Unico), but it's not exactly brilliant.

ebpizza, thanks for sharing your method. So what you're saying is that my problem is probably that I didn't break up the tomatoes enough? Also, I assume you're saying that your sauce does NOT include the juice from the can (you drain the packing juice before you begin?)

It's an Earth food. They are called Swedish meatballs. It's a strange thing, but every sentient race has its own version of these Swedish meatballs! I suspect it's one of those great universal mysteries which will either never be explained, or which would drive you mad if you ever learned the truth.

I wonder how many places down there add a little cinnamon to their sauce.... we do up here,in Montreal, all pizza places do it, - the cinnamon is very subtle though, if you didn't know it was in therethen you couldn't put your finger on the taste, but if somebody told you, you just might be able to say it was there,it's a very light hint of it..... it gives the sauce something good, I don't know what it is, but it's good.

Mark

Logged

Pizzamaker, Rib Smoker, HomeBrewer, there's not enough time for a real job.

Thanks....I think the biggest problems in my technique are not cooking high enough temp, and also not shredding the tomatoes thoroughly enough. *sigh* I'll give it ONE more shot, although my wife is starting to look askance at me each time I bring home ANOTHER can of San Marzano tomatoes.....

I combine everything into a sauce pan, once it starts to bubble i turn the heat to low and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. The paste and simmering for 30 minutes gives the sauce a consistency i like. Not to thick, but not all watery.